Historical fiction for Industrial Revolution

We're in the process of re-writing our scheme on the Industrial Revolution. We are keen to incorporate some historical fiction at some point - and there seems to be quite a lot written specifically for KS3. Does anyone use any of the materials available? And, if so, could you please let me know your experiences?

We picked up 30 copies of 'The Bonnie Pit Laddie' from the English department and used it as quiet/reading aloud in the autumn term with the Y9s, they loved it. You should see what the English dept has before you buy some new stuff.

My old school used Tom Jones by Fielding extensively - comparing the interpretations of extracts with the 60s film and sources. Or Dickens has descriptions of the industrial revolution.

This is one for the agricultural revolution. I think it was a comparison of sources with a glorious sunny painting of the agricultural golden age with the gloom of the description of agriculture at the beginning of Jude the Obscure? (The memory is starting to go after our year 8 reports!) I saw it at the SHP conference a couple of years ago, it was Rob Phillips who did it - I can dig out the stuff and send it to you if you'd like. PM or email me if you'd like it.

I have used 'Mill Girl' with my Year 9s (and my Year 11s!) to discuss living and working conditions in factories. It covers Chartism, factory conditions, education and unemployment and is written in a very accessible way.

It's easy to compare the book with sources as a way of making reliability/utility more understandable.

It's part of the 'My Story' children's fiction series. All the books are written as diaries from the perspective of a young person. They may not satisfy more able students but they work well with my class. The books even have source material and timelimes at the back.

Dickens. "Hard Times". Mr Gradgrind could be the model for the current vogue for target setting.

“All men dream; but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity; but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act out otheir dreams with open eyes, to make it possible.”.(T.E. Lawrence)
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